Tony and I have been in a long-distance-relationship for 2.5 years until we tied the knot. I lived on cruise ships and in Hawaii during that time before moving to Orlando. Growing up, we both were military kids, so we really love to travel. Additionally, Tony has a spunky personality and loves superheroes and I adore vintage details and crafting. So to combine all of that and other unique details, we ended up with beautiful wedding that I am pretty sure everyone enjoyed! Here is our most perfect day and how we made it uniquely ours.
Handmade Boutonnieres, Bouquets and Bunting
Practicality usually trumps everything else when I’m thinking of a creative idea. Wedding flowers are a must, but they are also quite frivolous. So I thought of different ways to use florals in memorable ways that wouldn’t hurt our pocketbook. I ordered all our flowers loose from a friend who works at a flower shop and we picked them up the day before the wedding. During the rehearsal dinner, I recruited my creative aunts and mom to make boutonnieres, corsages, the flower dog for the flower girl and my bouquet.
For the boutonnieres, they really aren’t hard to make. We used a mixture of faux leaves, pine needles from our backyard and a few fresh flowers. We gathered them in a way we thought was perfect, wrapped green floral tape tightly around them and then covered the floral tape with ribbon which we glue-gunned. I bought corsage pins at a craft store to pin them on the gentleman the day of.
My bouquet consisted of all white flowers gathered together with green floral tape wrapped around the stem. We then added left over tulle and put one of Tony’s mother’s romantic broaches on the front of it.
My mom made this adorable flower girl basket. We put the dog at one end and loose petals at the other end for her to throw. We watched a tutorial on UTube and it turned out really cute!
Instead of bouquets for my bridesmaids, I had them carry lanterns. We put fresh flowers in them with small strands of lights. At the reception they doubled as center pieces and now I have them as decor in our house!
Our wedding ceremony took place at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando. We have the most wonderful friends who take all the credit for making the ceremony look beautiful. Our friends Mark and Danielle used decor from their wedding, tied bows and added details that were just perfect. I was completely surprised as I walked down the aisle!
Father-Daughter Dance at Ceremony
One of the most unique things we did was have the father-daughter dance at the ceremony instead of the reception. As my dad walked me down the aisle, our Officiate (Tony’s Dad) told everyone to be seated while my dad and I share a special moment. We arranged the chairs in a circular formation to allow room and it was a nice moment to have before he gave me away.
*We also chose to do this at the ceremony instead of at the reception, because Tony’s mother has passed away. Therefor, there wasn’t a mother-son dance and we didn’t need to be reminded that she wasn’t there.
Long-Distance-Love Wedding Cake
Since Tony and I have been to many places and our relationship has developed over the years over the miles, we wanted to incorporate those places into our wedding. We had 3 different location themed food stations for Japan, Germany and Hawaii with corresponding food including sushi, chicken schnitzel with waffles and ahi tuna. We opened with a Florida themed cocktail hour which had gator cakes, citrus infused beer fondue and fresh white sangria.
Our cake was the centerpiece of the reception. It told our love story. Each layer was a different silhouette or cityscape of a part of our relationship. The bottom was where we met (cruise ship), the middle was where we fell in love (Hawaii) and the top was where we live (Florida). Our cake was created by Artfully Sweet.
Our groom’s cake was done by our talented friend Tami and incorporated all the fun characters that my husband loves.
R2D2 Ring Bearer
We didn’t have a little dude to bring the rings down the aisle, so we got a bit creative. During the ceremony, our best man pretended to forget the rings and then all of a sudden we heard the Star Wars anthem and R2D2 came to the rescue by bringing the rings. Our guests really loved it and it was a nice memorable touch to have on our special day.
Professional Photography by Danny Gorman.
Cassie says
I absolutely LOVE the R2D2 idea! My bf is a huge HUGE Star Wars fanatic…I don’t even know if fanatic truly describes the love he has for the franchise….anyway, what a great idea!
Stefaney says
Thank you! I’m glad you like it! He definitely stole the show and everyone enjoyed taking pictures with him. He’s my favorite SW character, probably because I can pronounce his name! Cheers!
bobop says
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Stefaney says
I’m so happy you enjoyed the post! I try to make quality posts instead of quantity. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Cheers!